UNBELIEVABLE: Celebrating the Life of The Notorious B.I.G.

The VIBE family will never stop mourning the death of The Notorious B.I.G.

Brooklyn's beloved "King of Hip-Hop" continues to influence rappers and hip-hop fans alike. In exactly 30-days, we'll reach the 15-year anniversary of his passing. VIBE will be commemorating his legacy with daily posts dedicated to the MC we call Biggie Smalls. In addition to exclusive content, you'll be able to read excerpts from the VIBE book, UNBELIEVABLE The Life, Death, and Afterlife of The Notorious B.I.G. Written by Cheo Hodari Coker, this piece of hip-hop history tells the God honest truth about Big's life and legacy.

Purchase: UNBELIEVABLE The Life, Death, and Afterlife of The Notorious B.I.G.

Read an excerpt from the foreword below, written by Bönz Malone

When Christopher “Biggie Smalls” Wallace was searching for a record deal in 1992, he came up to see me at Island Records, where I was working in A&R at the time. He rolled through with my man Matt-Life and offered me a brash challenge—from one Brooklynite to another. We would play cee-lo, the classic curbside hustler’s convention dice game. And if he won? Well, I guess I would owe the brother a record deal.

Maaan, it was on! We rolled them bones from 5 P.M. till after 8. I was snap- pin’ my fingers so hard they started bleeding. All of a sudden, the Notorious one started playin’ hot. On the last roll, he threw a pound and told me I better “Go get a pen” so he could sign that contract.

Five years later—and forty-eight hours after the murder of my friend Christopher— I sat in my lonely studio apartment, thinking of how close we became, the meals we had together, and about how different both of our lives might have been if I hadn’t rolled that game-winning head crack. One toss of the dice, in effect, deliv- ered the Notorious B.I.G. straight to Bad Boy Entertainment.

Check Back All Month Long For New Biggie Posts!